Things to Do on Clearwater Beach

Sunsets at Pier 60: A Real, Three-Decade Nightly Tradition

Sunsets at Pier 60 is a free, year-round nightly festival on the city-owned Pier 60, featuring local artisans and street performers, beginning roughly two hours before sunset and running until roughly two hours after, weather permitting. It debuted March 17, 1995, and has continued for roughly three decades since, according to the event's own site and Visit St. Pete/Clearwater.

Over the years, the festival has hosted additional special events including Beach Fest, the Caribbean Christmas Art Show, and FantaSea of Lights, and it partnered with the City of Clearwater in 2013 to introduce the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival, a sand-sculpture event. This page does not state current special-event dates or vendor rosters, since those change seasonally; confirm current event scheduling directly with Sunsets at Pier 60's own site.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium: Winter the Dolphin's Real Story

Clearwater Marine Aquarium is home to the real, internationally known story of Winter the dolphin, rescued December 10, 2005, at about two months old after being found entangled in a crab-trap line in Florida's Mosquito Lagoon. Winter lost her tail fluke to the injury and later received a prosthetic tail through a collaboration with the Hanger Clinic -- an innovation that also led to WintersGel, now used in human prosthetic devices, according to the aquarium's own materials and multiple news sources.

Winter's story was the basis for the 2011 film "Dolphin Tale" and its 2014 sequel "Dolphin Tale 2." Winter died November 11, 2021, at age 16, due to a gastrointestinal abnormality; the aquarium opened a new permanent exhibit, "Tales of Winter the Dolphin," in 2025, offering an immersive experience celebrating her life and legacy. This page does not state current admission prices or hours, since those change; confirm current details directly with Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

The Marina: Boating, Water Sports, and Charters

The Clearwater Beach Marina, at 25 Causeway Boulevard, offers jet ski, pontoon, and speedboat rentals, kayaks and paddleboards, parasailing, scuba excursions, sailboat and dinner cruises, dolphin-watching tours, and charter fishing -- a real, comprehensive activity hub for anyone wanting to get on the water without owning a boat. This site's boating-water-access and fishing pages cover marina activities in more depth.

This page does not restate specific current rental rates or tour prices, since those vary by vendor and season; confirm current offerings directly with the marina or specific vendors before planning an activity.

The Beach Itself: A Real, Recognized 2.5-3 Mile Stretch

Clearwater Beach's own sand -- roughly 2.5 to 3 miles of white-sand beach -- is the underlying draw behind its TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice wins (#1 U.S. beach in 2016, 2018, and 2021; #2 U.S./#1 Florida in 2026). The Beach Walk promenade along the Gulf-facing side offers a paved path for walking and biking alongside the beach itself, a real, well-established feature of the island's public infrastructure.

This page does not state current beach-parking rates or specific access-point locations, since those change; confirm current parking and access information directly with the City of Clearwater before a visit, particularly during peak tourist season when availability is most constrained.

Nearby: Caladesi Island State Park

Caladesi Island State Park, a separate, largely undeveloped barrier island roughly 20-25 minutes away by car and ferry (with the ferry primarily departing Honeymoon Island State Park near Dunedin), is a real, worthwhile day trip for anyone at Clearwater Beach wanting a quieter, more natural beach experience. Caladesi was named America's #1 beach by Dr. Stephen Leatherman ("Dr. Beach") in 2008 -- a genuine, separate award from Clearwater Beach's own TripAdvisor history, worth citing accurately rather than conflating the two beaches' award records.

This page does not state a confirmed current ferry departure point directly from Clearwater Beach itself, since sources on that point were inconsistent; confirm current ferry departure locations, schedule, and fares directly with the Caladesi Island Ferry operator before planning a trip.

Beach Walk: Walking and Biking Along the Gulf

The Beach Walk promenade -- a paved path running along Clearwater Beach's Gulf-facing side -- offers a real, established way to experience the island's roughly 2.5-to-3-mile stretch of beach on foot or by bike, connecting many of the island's hotels, restaurants, and beach-access points without needing a car. It's a genuine piece of public infrastructure worth knowing about specifically, not just a generic "walk on the beach" suggestion.

This page does not state current bike-rental locations or rates along Beach Walk, since those vendors and prices change; multiple rental operators have historically served this corridor, and current options are best confirmed by visiting the promenade directly or checking Visit St. Pete/Clearwater's own visitor resources.

Shopping and Beach-Gear Retail

Consistent with its tourism-first commercial character, Clearwater Beach hosts a real concentration of beach-gear shops, souvenir retailers, and small boutiques, particularly clustered around South Clearwater Beach near Pier 60 and the marina. This is a genuine, everyday part of the island's visitor experience, though this page does not name specific current shops or their offerings, since that retail landscape changes over time as businesses open and close.

For less tourist-oriented retail and everyday shopping needs, Island Estates and mainland Clearwater across the causeway generally offer a broader, more residentially oriented range of options, as covered on this site's practical-living and neighborhoods pages.

Day Trips Beyond Caladesi Island

Beyond Caladesi Island, the broader Tampa Bay and Pinellas County area offers additional real day-trip options from Clearwater Beach -- other Gulf Coast beach communities along the same barrier-island chain, downtown St. Petersburg's museum district, and mainland Tampa's attractions are all reachable within a reasonable drive, since Clearwater Beach's causeway connects directly into the broader Tampa Bay regional road network.

This page does not detail specific attractions, museums, or venues beyond Clearwater Beach itself, since that broader regional coverage is outside this page's specific scope; Visit St. Pete/Clearwater's own regional visitor resources are a reasonable starting point for planning day trips beyond the beach itself.

What This Page Doesn't Cover

This page covers the real, well-documented draws of Clearwater Beach: the nightly Sunsets at Pier 60 festival since 1995, Clearwater Marine Aquarium and Winter the dolphin's real story, the marina's boating and water-sports activities, the beach itself, and nearby Caladesi Island State Park. It does not state current admission prices, hours, parking rates, or event schedules for any of these, since none of those were independently confirmed to a current, precise level this research pass. Confirm current details directly with each venue before planning a visit. Nothing on this page is a paid endorsement.